Kemper Co. (NYSE:KMPR) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” from Brokerages

Kemper Co. (NYSE:KMPR) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the five brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $80.40.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Kemper in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. StockNews.com raised Kemper from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Kemper from $72.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price target on Kemper from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 26th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kemper

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in Kemper by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 8,985 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $597,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Kemper by 25.8% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,579 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $171,000 after buying an additional 529 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Kemper by 44.6% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,220 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $197,000 after buying an additional 993 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in Kemper by 172.7% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 6,209 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $413,000 after buying an additional 3,932 shares during the period. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Kemper during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $212,000. Institutional investors own 86.23% of the company’s stock.

Kemper Stock Performance

NYSE KMPR opened at $65.40 on Friday. Kemper has a 52-week low of $54.11 and a 52-week high of $73.01. The company has a fifty day moving average of $67.28 and a 200-day moving average of $64.14. The company has a market capitalization of $4.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.57 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.22.

Kemper (NYSE:KMPR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.07 billion. Kemper had a return on equity of 12.03% and a net margin of 5.86%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.44) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Kemper will post 5.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kemper Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. Kemper’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.52%.

Kemper Company Profile

Kemper Corporation, a diversified insurance holding company, engages in the provision of insurance products to individuals and businesses in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Specialty Property & Casualty Insurance, Preferred Property & Casualty Insurance, and Life & Health Insurance.